KUALA LUMPUR: Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak was sentenced to 12 years' jail and fined RM210 million after he was found guilty of all seven charges related to the misappropriation of RM42 million of SRC International funds.
High Court judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali sentenced Najib to the jail term and fine for the offence related to abuse of power under Section 23 of the MACC Act 2009.
For the three criminal breach of trust offences under Section 409 of the Penal Code, he ordered Najib to serve 10 years for each count.
Najib was also ordered to serve 10 years jail for each of the three counts of money laundering under Section 4(1)(b) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001 (AMLATFPUAA).
However, he ordered that all the sentences run concurrently. This means Najib will only serve a total of 12 years' jail.
He would have to serve an additional five years if he fails to pay the fine.
Mohd Nazlan later granted Najib a stay of execution pending his appeal to the Court of Appeal. The judge, however, ordered Najib to pay an additional RM1 million in bail to top-up the RM1 million he already paid when he was charged.
The former prime minister was ordered to pay the RM1 million by tomorrow. The judge also ordered Najib to report to a police station of his choice on the first and 15th of every month.
Najib's lead counsel, Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, told the court his client would pay up before the end of the day tomorrow.
In sentencing the 67-year-old Pekan Member of Parliament, Mohd Nazlan said he had taken into consideration public interest as well as contributions made by the former top leader of the country to the nation's development.
Earlier in the morning, Mohd Nazlan convicted Najib of all seven charges he faced.
He ruled that the defence had failed to raise any doubt against the prosecution's case on all the charges.
Mohd Nazlan took apart all the arguments put forward by the defence, concluding that all the evidence pointed towards the accused's guilt.
On the abuse of power charge, he said Najib's defence of blaming others, including fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho @ Jho Low, was not valid.
He said pointing the finger at others, as was Najib's main defence, did not absolve him of blame.
On the defence's argument that Najib did not manage his own accounts, the judge said it was illogical as the accused had been issuing cheques and therefore must shoulder the responsibility.
He said Najib knew of transactions involving his bank accounts, but intentionally withheld this information. He said Najib had also failed to take any action against his banks if there had been any wrongdoing committed by the financial institutions.
"There was never any indication of wrongdoing," he said.